LOS ANGELES (AP) — Terance Mann slipped the gold-chained championship belt proclaiming “Big Moment Fella Performance” over his head.
He clearly earned it, scoring a career-high 31 points in the Los Angeles Clippers’ 121-100 win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday.
After Houston tore through their defense early, the Clippers settled down and dominated the fourth quarter to extend the Rockets’ season-worst skid to 10 straight games.
Kawhi Leonard added 30 for the Clippers, who had dropped eight of nine. He scored 13 points, including nine straight, in 11 minutes of the opening quarter.
Both teams were shorthanded. Houston starters Jalen Green and Jae’Sean Tate served one-game suspensions for leaving the bench area during an on-court altercation in Friday’s loss at Sacramento. The Clippers were missing starters Paul George (right hamstring soreness) and Marcus Morris (left knee contusion).
The Clippers broke open a close game and outscored the Rockets 30-10 in the fourth.
“Nobody could get stops. Everybody was moving slow and that might have been because it was an early game,” Mann said. “Whichever team was going to play defense first was going to win.”
With Leonard on the bench to start the fourth, the second unit gave the Clippers their first double-digit lead of the game. Robert Covington opened an 11-0 run with a 3-pointer and scored inside before Moses Brown’s tip-in closed it for a 103-92 lead. Norman Powell led the bench with 18 points.
At the other end, the Rockets came up empty on consecutive possessions.
“Keep the pressure on the defensive end, that’s really what I like to bring to the table,” Mann said.
Eric Gordon led the Rockets with 24 points. Kenyon Martin Jr. had 22 points and nine rebounds and Alperen Sengun had 15 points, eight rebounds and six…